Lower Your Cholesterol the Natural Way

People who are concerned about their financial well-being routinely monitor their portfolio - a collection of investments, securities and other valuable items - and make the appropriate changes when necessary.

If you suffer from high cholesterol, it might be time to examine your dietary portfolio and alter it to one that more closely resembles the diet used in a recent study.

In the trial, 55 middle-aged men and women, who were already on a heart-healthy diet, were asked to follow a more rigid food plan that included high amounts of specific items such as raw almonds, tofu, soy, oatmeal, barley, okra and eggplant. The subjects stayed on the new diet for 12 months, after which researchers collected blood samples to measure changes in cholesterol levels.

Patients who followed the new diet faithfully lowered their cholesterol by an average of 29 percent - a rate similar to that seen in people who had taken statin drugs for a month before starting the diet. For people who did not adhere to the new diet, cholesterol levels remained roughly the same as they were before the start of the study.

If you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, talk to your doctor of chiropractic about adjusting your diet to include foods such as tofu, soy and oatmeal. Your doctor can also create an exercise plan to be used in conjunction with a diet for even greater health and wellness. For more information, visit www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/nutrition.

Reference:

Jenkins DJA, Kendall CWC, Faulkner DA, et al. Assessment of the longer-term effects of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods in hypercholesterolemia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition March 2006;83(3):582-591.